Canadian Faces Gay-Bashing Charge
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 29 (UPI)
A man accused in a weekend attack on a gay man in Vancouver, British Columbia, made an initial court appearance Monday.
Michael Kandola, 20, of Vancouver faces a charge of aggravated assault causing bodily harm, the Canadian Broadcast Corp. reported. However, authorities indicated they may seek to have Kandola prosecuted under Canada’s hate-crime law, the CBC said.
Kandola, whose first appearance was in the city’s community court, is to be back before a judge Tuesday in provincial court, prosecutors said.
Vancouver police Constable Tim Fanning said several witnesses reported hearing Kandola utter gay slurs before the Saturday morning assault in the city’s West End.
Jordan Smith, 27, told CBC News he was walking and holding hands with another man when a group of four young men approached them and called out gay slurs. One of the four allegedly hit Smith in the face with enough force to knock him to the sidewalk, causing him to lose consciousness.
Smith reportedly suffered multiple fractures to his jaw and was to have surgery to repair the injury.
Police said they were looking for at least three other suspects.
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Good that the attacker has to face this charge!!
It’s just horrible.
I’m hearing many stories about the attack, the attacker, and other attacks in the last year on the same street. It is very upsetting. I’m also very concerned as to if the province will actually charge Kandola with a hate crime. Many crimes in Canada that you and I would call a hate crime are actually tried as assault (or some form of assault charge). The reason being is that you have to prove without any doubt that the crime was based on the fact that the victim was queer. If you can’t prove that or the proof is a bit iffy then the attacker is normally charged with some sort of assault to assure a conviction. I am really fed up with this! A hate crime is a hate crime and people beating others because they are gay should be charged with more than assault.
This just reminds me of StatsCan’s report on hate crimes in Canada http://www.statcan.ca/english/research/85F0033MIE/2008017/findings/highest-en.htm My home town of Kingston was ranked 2nd highest for recorded reportings of hate crimes in Canada :) But I look at this information as not that Kingston is rampant with hate crimes but that other cities are not reporting hate crimes. Many police forces aren’t reporting or charging hate crimes but are instead charging as assault. Ugh, it is so upsetting.
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